


incandescent smiles

by beaujins



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, convenience store au lmaO, lmao forgot to add that, my first skz fic sweats pls be good to me, pure fucking fluff, sorry the rest of em arent there skskk, wherein felix is a lil unfortunate but its cute, ysee guys smiling makes ppl happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-21 14:45:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18704452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beaujins/pseuds/beaujins
Summary: wherein changbin has this habit of smiling at everyone, and felix happens to be a boy with smiles that could light up a thousand suns.





	incandescent smiles

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello i recommend listening to [ star blossom by doyoung and sejeong ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpv-mkmddms) while reading this fluff of a fic. promise, it's cute!

The thing about Seo Changbin was that he always smiles, as in _always_ smiles at the strangers he first sees.   
  
It's not like he's obliged to or anything, it's just become a rather appreciative habit of him to smile at people whenever they look at each other. Whether it'd be in the school hallways, the vending shops, or even during dinners with his family, Changbin always smiled when people looked at him. It's puzzling, really, when a man who pulls off a resting face can still manage to smile at people, and maybe even make their day.   
  
It made him conscious to the point where he vowed to never smile again for the rest of his life. He was a boy of thirteen at that time, young, and still full of fresh ideas. He remembered the time where he attempted to give his mom a foul look, one that screamed, "I don't smile anymore!" Yet, everything backfired when his mom teased him for acting like such a tough boy.   
  
Ever since then, Changbin has given up on trying to let go of his smiling habit. It's annoying sometimes, but he gets used to it by the day he grows older.   
  
It happened again during a trip to the convenience store.   
  
Changbin had just gotten off of college, denim jacket pulled to the black shirt that stuck to his skin, rimmed glasses perched on his bridge, and earphones stuck to his earbuds as he tried to search for inspiration to craft his final song. It was a part of his thesis, you see, to submit a solid, three-minute song, verses and all. Changbin's been told that he excelled well in this sort of field, and he had to admit, he was comfortable in this sort of project, so everything was a piece of cake for him. He had Chan and Jisung teaming up with him, anyway. They'd submit a perfect piece in no time.   
  
As he worked his way through the entrance, he sauntered through the aisles in search for some ramyun, and perhaps a few hotdogs for the bunch. He took into consideration the tendencies Chan has to overwork himself during the leeway hours of their submission, and he knew Jisung would kill for some shitty convenience store coffee. (Which, by the way, tasted pretty good for Changbin. What's not to like about French Vanilla coffee?) He did his deed nevertheless, and hummed over a few tunes before settling over to the hotdog stand to grab a hold of some steamy buns and some nice, steamed sausages.   
  
Then, just then, as he picked his first steamy bun, he saw him.   
  
It was very brief at first; the boy entered the convenience store in a set of headphones, eyes half-lidded and almost exhausted, and sweat that stuck from the sides of his neck and some strands of his golden blonde hair. He sauntered past a distracted Changbin at first, as he looked for some hopes of a steamed pork bun or some coffee. Luck was on his side, and clasped his hands in a small delight once he had found his desires. That's how Changbin found him now, perched up against the coffee machine as he squinted to read the hangul, almost mouthing the characters as if he were a kid in kindergarten. It made Changbin wonder at first, until he came to the conclusion that the boy was practically foreign. He could tell by how lost he seemed by the coffee machine, not knowing which buttons to press, and by how he cursed to himself in something that sounded like English. Changbin wouldn't know. He scored poorly on his English grades. He had Aussie Boy Chan to thank him for his English stock knowledge.   
  
Changbin hadn't realized that he was staring a little too long at the boy of wonders, that his stare seemed to pick up on the boy. As if time had suddenly stood still, the two made eye contact, connecting doe-like shiny eyes with low, slumped ones. _Oh shit,_ Changbin panicked momentarily, _you know what's coming. You definitely know what's coming and I suggest you look away now—_  
  
He perked a smile at the boy. As expected of Seo Changbin, expert smiley guy at random strangers.   
  
God, he needs to control his habits sometimes.   
  
Unexpected of him, he sought the boy to be smiling back at him as well, showcasing an adorable set of freckles to dust his cheeks and his eyes to crinkle in crescents for a split second before meeting shy eyes with the coffee machine once more. The response left Changbin dumbfounded as he stood by the hotdog machine, holding a fresh, steamy hotdog on his hands. _Huh, did not...expect that._ Changbin's ears grew red. _Never thought that the cute guy with freckles smiled at strangers too._ He could feel his neck grow hot as well by just the replay of his smile on his head. Oh, Jeremy. Changbin's buffering.   
  
"Uh, hey." He spoke for the first time since he left his apartment, voice a little hoarse from much disuse as he peeked at the boy at the coffee machine. "Do you need help, um, over there?" You're doing great, Seo! Definitely not awkward.   
  
The boy shot his head up at his call, then blinked once, twice, before nodding in what almost seemed like desperation. "Yes, please. I'm sort of lost." Changbin noted the accent that filled his Korean, and needless to say, Changbin digs those accents, but you didn't hear that from him.   
  
He went over to his side instead, and began explaining what each flavor was, what each button meant, where each cup was placed. The boy tried to follow in an equal pace, and Changbin could almost hear calculating sounds running through the edge of the boy's mind as he went through the process slowly. "You can just place your cup here, and let the coffee machine do its magic. If I suggest, you should pick French Vanilla." He gestured to the button at the middle. "It's the only coffee that's less shitty in this convenience store, if you ask me."

The boy made a small ‘o’ with his mouth, and beamed at Changbin with gratitude within the look of his eyes. “Thank you! God, I thought I’d never get it. Pretty stupid, if you think about it, considering that this is just a coffee machine and I’m surrounded by a population of foreigners. I just had to do better.” He groaned, rolling his eyes upward and squeezing them shut for a while, probably to get the stress and strain off his eyes. Now that he mentioned it, Changbin noticed that he looked rather exhausted earlier. His bags weren’t hard to miss, and he noticed that it was past 8PM to be coming from the university. The boy probably had extra hours on something, though Changbin isn’t the one to prod on one’s personal affairs.

He nodded instead, giving one last small smile before patting his back pockets for nothing in particular. “No problem. I’ll just be on my way, then.” He tilted his head toward the hotdog stand, and awkwardly made his way to it once more, trying to ignore the way the boy’s eyes were still trained on Changbin. It took about three seconds for Changbin’s racing heart to subside, and by that time, the boy’s eyes were no longer fixed on him, but at the coffee machine that he now understood how to use it. He doesn’t know why his heart sudden escalated, but he hoped that it’s because of his small social anxiety rather than the fact that the boy was absolutely adorable with the way he talked, the way he smiled, the way he did everything in a span of ten minutes to make Changbin feel this way. He recalled a time within the night where the three of them were at their peak of insanity, and Jisung suddenly started talking about some alternate universe where people would puke flowers after developing a crush on that certain person. Changbin thought that was utter bullshit, but Chan was just as immersed as Jisung was.

“Thank God I’m not coughing out seeds, if such a disease were even real.” Changbin scoffed to himself, before shutting the hotdog stand and making his way toward the counter to pay for his food. His thoughts on the boy were grazed in the center of his mind as he purchased, all senses hovering to the small encounter that happened not too long ago. He couldn’t bring himself to stop thinking about him, but how could he when his smile could literally light up a thousand suns from thousands of galaxies. Changbin knew he had to stop thinking about some stranger, but why wasn’t he stopping?

As if fate had decided to play a little more, he suddenly felt a thud and a splash of something, followed by a frustrated groan behind him. Changbin whipped his head towards his back, and found—oh, how lovely—the boy of his thoughts in a middle of his own crisis as the coffee dropped from his hands and into the floors. Flushed from embarrassment, the boy immediately apologized to the counter for making such a mess, and hurriedly scrambled to wipe his own mess with his clothes. Changbin saw the counter rush over to tell him that they’ll handle it, and speak some words of reassurance before they went over to handle Changbin’s items before going over to the spillage. He grabbed for the plastic bag, and almost decided to just let the boy handle his own mess and leave the store, only he didn’t. He stopped short in the entrance, and took one glance at the boy, who was currently slapping the back of his neck in hopes to help him wake up more. He furrowed his eyebrows, and hummed. The boy was close to tired, and clearly that coffee incident was a wake-up call for him. Maybe he should do something. Yeah, that’s right, maybe pay for his coffee, or even treat him to some coffee if his budget allows it.

“Hey,” Changbin went to the boy once again, and tapped him on the shoulder to grab his attention, “maybe I should treat you to coffee? You seemed out of it today, so I wanted to do something to gain myself good boy points. Well, how about it?”

The boy blinked once, twice, until he scoffed one of his adorable grins that was enough to send Changbin orbiting to outer space. “You’re an odd one. You trust strangers easily, or are you just that friendly?” He went over to the coffee machine once more, Changbin following closely with a roll of his eyes. “It’s not like you’re out to assassinate me, or rob the cash in this store. You’re too—“ He paused there, and froze at what he was just about to say that could most likely embarrass himself in front of the boy. The latter, on the other hand, raised a brow in amusement as he inched closer. “I’m too…what?”

Changbin sighed, slumping his shoulders and glancing elsewhere before looking back at the boy. “You’re too…” He made his voice tiny, almost inaudible for people other than the boy to hear, “ _nice for that._ At least you seem nice, unless you do have a gun and you are here to assassinate me. Fuck, I’m doomed.”

The boy lit up at his response, eyes crinkling into those lovely crescent ones and his grin showcasing his teeth along with his laughter. It was near blinding, and good enough to set Changbin’s heart pumping once more as his stomach twisted at the sight. He knew that he wasn’t the one with such humor, but to know that a man could laugh at his remark, it was enough to make Changbin feel good about himself. He smiled automatically in response, albeit a little more bashful than his normal ones. The boy, on the other hand, gleamed at him. “You’re so funny! You’re literally making my day as we speak right now.” He gave him a paper cup from where Changbin had told him so earlier, and nodded. “Here, let me give you your good boy points. You deserve it for making me laugh today.” Changbin doesn’t miss the way his grin still stood in place, and neither did he miss the way his stomach twisted more and his heart thumped louder.

Perhaps he’s never been this gay before. Perhaps he should tell Chan and Jisung that he’ll be coming home a little later than usual.

“I’m Felix, by the way.” The boy outstretched his hand, his smile still on place, yet brighter for some reason. _Felix,_ Changbin pondered, wondering if he should say it the way he said it, or how his peers would usually say it. Nevertheless, it was a decent name, and that was enough for Changbin. He took his outstretched hand, and gave an equal expression to the boy, now called Felix. “Changbin. It’s nice to meet you, I guess?”

Changbin wondered if Felix ever got tired of smiling, because from what it seems like that fifth or sixth time today—Changbin never took count—Felix smiled at him once more, followed by a fit of fond giggles that sounded on his throat. “You guess, huh? Well, it’s your turn to make the coffee, Mr. I-Guess Changbin.”

The man in statement scoffed a laugh, rolling his eyes at such a nickname given before proceeding to press the familiar buttons he had once taught Felix. It’s pretty amusing, he thought, that back in the day, his thirteen-year old dramatic self would frown all day long, believing that nothing good would ever come out of smiling. He’s twenty-years old now, already given up on that belief, and now exchanged with a new one that something good did come out of his smiling habits. The thought in itself was enough to make Changbin _smile_ yet again, as he walked with the boy who had freckles for cheeks and smiles for a thousand suns. The boy, who apparently didn’t know how to work the coffee machine because he couldn’t read all the complicated hangul well yet. The boy, named Lee Felix, who made Changbin’s day by just _smiling_ ; Changbin sure wouldn’t have it any other way with his smiles either.

What can he say? Old habits die hard.


End file.
